ok, this is the second time in the past two weeks I've not been able to go swim due to thunderstorm activity.
Now don't get me wrong.. I LOOOOOVE Thunderstorms, but not being able to swim when you've looked forward to doing so since the previous evening is just no fun at all. :mad:
I was literally out the building and on my way to the Y when an clap of thunder abruptly stopped me in my tracks.. I just turned right around and went back into the building. (and onto the discussion boards of course! lol)
Anyone else go to indoor pools that close during storms? In Oklahoma during spring and early summer it sometimes ends up being like a hail mary to decide to go to practice in hopes that there won't be a storm.:rolleyes:
If i remember my college physics,the charge in an enclosed conductor is always ZERO. Thats why a car is safe in a thunder storm(not because it has rubber tires.) Most indoor pools are going to have metal surrounding them in the walls making them essentially inside an enclosed conductor and therefore safe.
This is why linemen who have to work on lines while perched atop them in very remote wilderness areas wear metal mesh body suits. Once they charge the suit through contact with the line, they are safe to touch anything they want.
So I'm proposing a new form of tech suit! A metal mesh body suit! You may drown, but you won't be electrocuted!:D
Sorry to revive the zombie thread, but I just gotta.
We've been having lots of afternoon storms -- GA weather now is like FL weather was 20 yrs ago -- and they close the indoor pool when there's thunder!
This is idiotic.
Especially considering that they have no guards and a "swim at your own risk" policy. There are plenty of times when I'm in there by myself for long periods. I could choke or have a heart attack in the water, or slip and crack my head on the deck, and I could be dead for half an hour before anyone noticed.
That would be my tough luck b/c I'm at my own risk.
But when it thunders, they gotta stop my workout.
And since I swim in the middle of a split work shift, this completely scratches my workout for the day.
I can't believe how stupid this is. As far as I know, there has never been a lightning-related injury in an indoor pool ever.
I'm more likely to get hit by lightning when I go back to my truck, after being ejected from the pool, than I am if I were to keep swimming.
Will someone please bring sanity back to our fearful, cowering culture?!
Next time it happens, I'm tempted to just keep swimming. Can't hear them thru my earplugs, y'know.
I make it my practice to avoid getting angry and upset about things like this. I know I carry on in my blog about things, but that's mostly for comic effect. In reality, I'm a pretty equanimous individual. But this particular topic gets me chew-the-doors-off-the-hinges crazy! I'm printing out your link and bringing it to the Y this week. This has got to stop! Either that or I'm going to have to spend a lot more time meditating!
Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting hit by lightning in a swimming pool, indoors or out?
in 1989 I was swimming the 200 fly and finished 120 yards of the race before the heat was pulled out of the water so that we could stand up in the wet grass..under a tent with medal posts.. Lucky for me I would have lost the race if it wasn't called as I felt like a piano was on my back. When we re-swam the race the piano fell on the other swimmers.
Follow the link at this blog to see the video. www.warrentonmasters.org/.../
Everyone was upset that they pulled us out of the pool.
charlie
Follow the link at this blog to see the video. www.warrentonmasters.org/.../
Everyone was upset that they pulled us out of the pool.
charlie
I love how MacDonald's sponsored the meet!
If only there weren't legal ramifications......
Why would there be more legal ramifications for me choosing to swim during thunder than there would be for me choosing to swim by myself with no guard? They have a clear "at your own risk" policy that I've signed and which is also posted on the deck in foot-tall block lettering. If they want to cover themselves, they can have someone come tell me it's thundering. Then it's my choice.
And since sending me back to work means I'm walking thru the parking lot, where I'm more likely to get struck by lightning, I don't see any reduction in risk for them at all.
Why would there be more legal ramifications for me choosing to swim during thunder than there would be for me choosing to swim by myself with no guard?
I was totally referring to the catalyst that would probably be necessary to start the social change out of its current state of fear mongering and living according to that fear.
Fantastic race Charlie. I'm going to replay it again.:applaud:
Patience.... Number one thing in the 200fly.. The first 50 is better then drugs.. then reality sets in. Now I just use the lightning as PSYCH music... AND I have never heard of anyone getting hit by lightning in a pool.. Golfing seems to get all the attention
News Flash: The NFL said yesterday that they are suggesting players wear knee, hip and other pads to "protect themselves from injury". Helmets and shoulder pads are mandatory. They are going to "try" this out for preseason games and summer practice... I wonder if they will have lightning rods on those helmets.. They have gotten that far in 2010... they are just figuring out that they can get hurt hitting each other..
